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The Daily Stern

15 comments on The Daily Stern

The Daily Stern

: VENDETTA: Don’t believe there’s an FCC vendetta against Howard Stern? Here’s a gun with a wisp that looks strangely like smoke coming out of it:

FCC Chairman Michael Powell addressed the National Association of Broadcasters yesterday and someone was a good enough reporter to ask him about Oprah Winfrey getting away with doing exactly what the FCC fined Stern for — defining sexual collolquialisms:

Powell dismissed accusations that the FCC’s actions are unevenly enforced, shock jock Howard Stern, whose show has been fined more than any other, has accused the FCC and the Republican administration of pursuing a vendetta. On his Web site he accuses the commission of going after him, but ignoring Oprah Winfrey, who received an award for her achievements in broadcasting on Monday.

“I don’t agree with that,” he told reporters after his Q&A. “The commission has said nothing about Oprah Winfrey. There are people complaining about it, but we’ll see.”

While Powell defended the commission’s even-handedness, commission aides admitted that Oprah is probably untouchable. It’s more difficult to fine a beloved figure like her, than to go after lightning rod like Stern.

15 responses to “The Daily Stern”

  1. Charlie (Colorado) Avatar
    Charlie (Colorado)

    Jeff, you’re getting a little over… over… you’ve got to be kidding, you’re a better reader than that. He’s saying that it’s harder to go after something on Oprah because lots of people love her, while Stern is less universally admired. That’s not a sign of an anti-Stern vendetta, and it’s utterly unfair to characterize it that way.
    It is an observation that you can get away with a lot more if you claim to be “theraputic” than if you are outwardly smarmy. Remember “naturist” magazines and “sold for the prevention of disease only”? (For those readers too young to remember it, once upon a time the only nekkid women you could get on the regular news stand were nudists playing volleyball, arty phtography magazines and the regular Vargas pinup in Esquire, and condoms had that label because if they were birth-control they would have been illegal. And they still were in Massachusetts.)

  2. TomK Avatar
    TomK

    I second what Charlie says, and add this:
    Oprah has an audience that will actually go vote.

  3. Trump Avatar
    Trump

    How is that evidence of a vendetta? It’s true- it would be much harder to take action and make it stick against someone with credibility, as opposed to Stern, who is a dirtbag.
    Anyway, we’ll get rid of Stern. That hatefilled fool won’t be able to spew his slanderous and hateful speech much longer.
    WE’RE WINNING!

  4. bob Avatar
    bob

    The paragraph immediately following Jeff’s excerpt read as follows:

      During his session Powell said he had “a lot of respect for Howard Stern,” but he told reporters later that Stern’s contention that commission actions against him were politically motivated was bunk.

    To be sure, Powell’s direct statement could be a lie. But when an excerpt stops right before the paragraph that directly contradicts your conclusion, that’s a bit too obvious.
    And it places your challenge to Powell’s credibility as commissioner in an entirely new light, Jeff.
    On that note, Trump .. calling someone a “dirtbag” and then accusing him of being a “hatefilled fool” is ironic. Not the kind of irony you intended, right?

  5. FRB Avatar
    FRB

    Look, I listen to Stern and mostly enjoy him (although the show’s gone downhill since Jackie left, I don’t care what anyone says) and pretty much agree that the FCC is off its rocker with the whole indecency thing, but I have very little sympathy for the guy. Frankly, Stern is a massive hypocrite. There has been a rule at Infinity (I don

  6. Laurie K. Avatar
    Laurie K.

    It’s undeniable that the FCC is after Stern. They have been, periodically, for a long time. I simply don’t buy that it’s politically motivated, any more than it was under the last Democratic administration. He’s caught up in one of the FCC’s periodic spasms of activity, just like he was last time. This too shall pass.

  7. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    Could it be that the reason that Stern has received a bulk of the fines from the FCC is because his major backers (excluding Clear Channel) have chosen to stick with him over the years. Let’s face it, Stern makes them good money and that’s the bottom line. If O&A and Bubba the Love Sponge were bigger money makers for their companies, they would still be on the air.
    Stern is not, as he would like to characterize himself as, some sort of victim of the FCC.

  8. tony Avatar
    tony

    i would like to find out why FCC aides think that being “beloved” has anything to do with what’s indecent?
    if your’re talking about anal oral sex on tv in the daytime, and the rules say that if you discuss those things you will be fined, you should be fined.
    where is the blind justice?
    where is the outrage from the right who have children that they care so much about?
    “your honor, my client is beloved, and therefore…”
    “and therefore not guilty. case closed.”

  9. sol Avatar
    sol

    ‘FCC aides’… Right, Jeff.

  10. John Avatar
    John

    Just FYI — Here’s a thread from the New York Radio Message Board from today, indicating that a guest on Stern’s show dropped the ‘S’ word this morning, which went out without any cuts or bleeps.
    I have less trouble with a rogue word like this than with some of the other stuff Howard’s done of the years, but this will probably add fuel to the current fire.

  11. Amy Alkon Avatar
    Amy Alkon

    I don’t care whether Stern’s a staunch defender of free speech or a crusader against it. I defend his freedom to speak regardless of what he’s saying (or isn’t saying) and in whose interest he is or isn’t saying it. Obviously, people want to hear him. Those who don’t want to hear him should listen to something else.

  12. HH Avatar
    HH

    The dirty little secret as Phil Hendrie (dyed-in-the-wool Democrat/two-time Clinton voter/opposed Reagan, etc.) pointed out last week is that Oprah is TV and Stern is radio. Hendrie’s pals in radio are getting fined and losing their jobs because the $$$ is in TV and the FCC gets more from them. He went off on a tirade on this after a Kerry supporter lambasted him for attacking Kerry’s phoniness… I’d love to see someone start the Daily Hendrie… He’s the anti-Stern on these matters and he’s not a Rush Limbaugh type at all… especially since I can’t listen to him regularly.

  13. EL Avatar
    EL

    I have never been a huge fan of Stern’s show. My sister and I used to listen to it together on the way to work whenever she’d give me a ride when I was younger and when my mother found out she went through the roof. My sister still listens on a daily basis.
    It doesnt matter how wide of an audience Stern reaches. They are attacking him because he poses a subject that most are uncomfortable with because of its negitive connotation in society. Is it fair that Oprah was not fined for discussing a topic equal to that which they charged Stern? Of course not, but in life there are three characteristics of rhetoric: ethos pathos and logos. Oprah appeals to our emotions with her sweet stories, she is very logical and poses intelligent conversations and her credentials are amazing. THAT is why we shy from fining her, not to mention it would barely make a dent in her pocket. We have her on a pedistol while looking down upon and mostly trying to get rid of or ignore people like Howard Stern. Her veiwers are so devoted that the FCC doesnt have the balls to even try and fine someone of her prestige. It makes me wonder if our society is so close-minded that we cannot see past the unfair circumstances of this argument. To me, the FCC’s battle vs the “shock jock” is nothing but a cheap shot at something they little understand and do not feel like dealing with. They are playing tug-of-war with our amendment rights. There is a point at which we end up infringing our rights becasue we have gone too far in a shallow attempt to protect them.
    A few words from others on freedom of speech and censorship:
    “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
    –George Washington
    “The opinions of men are not the object of civil governemnt, nor under it’s jurisdiction.”
    –Thomas Jefferson
    “Pontius Pilate was the first great censor, and Jesus Christ the first great victim of censorship.”
    –Ben Lindsay
    “It is harder to preserve than obtain liberty.”
    –John C. Calhoun
    Another issue I am pissed with the FCC about is their handling of the media monopoly in the television industry. Most have no clue what is going on with that but the FCC is playing favorites and if they don’t stop soon our information may be limited when it comes to broadcasting. Jobs are being lost at a tremendous rate and there is a HUGE movement that could take place if the FCC succeeds and and no body knows!
    SEE: http://www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/magazine/0503_media.cfm
    OR: http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/ns07232003.cfm
    To hell with the FCC. Excuse my incessant rambling.

  14. ESC Avatar
    ESC

    Just to set the record straight, Stern doesn’t just talk about himself; he’s focused on others facing the FCC decency police – two that I heard included Bono and the LA radio personality Sandra Tsing Loh. I was an infrequent listener before all this – but now I tune in every morning to find out what he’ll say next. I don’t want the FCC deciding who I can or can’t tune out.

  15. h0mi Avatar
    h0mi

    Stern is all about himself. Loh isn’t the competition but “Dave, Shelly & Chainsaw” are, and he was clamoring for CC to fire them for being “10 times dirtier than my show” (which isn’t true btw.)